Conventionally, a device for providing a data copy function between two storage media has been used for the purpose of data backup or the like. For example, an external hard disk, ASKA Tripper USB20PS1, recently released onto the market by ASKA in Japan, is a typical example of the data copy device. The ASKA Tripper USB20PS1 provides an additional slot adapter for a CF memory card, a smart media, a memory stick, an MMC card, an SD card and the like, thereby providing a function by which data are backed up from a variety of memory modules used by a digital camera and the like to an internal hard disk.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional data copy device where a source medium 140 and a target medium 150 are connected to a control module 110 through an IDE interface 130. It is assumed herein that data are copied from the source medium 140 to the target medium 150. In view of the properties of the IDE interface 130, the source medium 140 and the target medium 150 share the same IDE bus and are identified only by different device numbers. In order to perform data copy, the control module 110 reads data from the source medium 140 and temporarily stores the data in a memory 120, and then reads data again from the memory 120 and writes the data in the target medium 150.
According to the conventional data copy device, two read operations and two write operations should be performed to copy data from the source medium 140 to the target medium 150. Thus, there is a problem in that the data copying speed is low as a whole. Furthermore, in order to enhance the performance of data copy felt by a user, a buffer memory 120 with considerable capacity should be prepared and a high performance control module 110 should also be used. Therefore, there is a problem in that the price of a product inevitably becomes high.